Speakeasy Sucks

See: Om Malik on Broadband � Why I think Speakeasy Sucks If I had read this post two weeks ago my response would have been completely different. I would have raved about SpeakEasy's connection speed, their customer service and support, and their fair prices. Today as I cross into my second week without Internet access (See: Verizon Strikes Again) and I keep hearing phrases such as: "DSL is a best effort service", or "we've opened a ticket with the phone company", or now tonight "Covad is doing an upgrade and their system is down", I am advocating staying away from SpeakEasy for an entirely different reason. They have absolutely no control over your Internet service and are completely dependant on not one but two third parties. What do I mean by this? SpeakEasy is purchasing DSL service from Covad so they are reliant on Covad, and Covad purchases access to the phone line from the phone company, so Covad is dependant on the phone company. So when your DSL goes down, SpeakEasy cannot do anything to fix it, they can only open a ticket with Covad, who in turn will open a ticket with the phone company. Yes SpeakEasy gives you things that the others will not, faster speeds for example, but who cares how fast your non functional internet access is? Unfortunately it is now the weekend and Monday is a holiday, but you can bet that come Tuesday I will no longer be a SpeakEasy customer.